SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Photos of Shireen Abu Akleh are seen at a May 12, 2022 candle-lit vigil in Beirut, Lebanon for the slain Palestinian-American journalist. (Photo: Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty Images)
'Organized Whitewash': US Claims Israeli Military's Murder of Journalist Not Intentional
"The odds that those responsible for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh will be held to account are all but nonexistent," said the human rights group B'Tselem in response to findings of U.S. State Department.
Jul 04, 2022
Human rights advocates on Monday derided the Biden administration's assertion that Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was "likely"--but unintentionally--killed by an Israeli soldier, with one group accusing the U.S. State Department of complicity in a "whitewash" of the reporter's death.
"You can't determine intent or the lack of it from a bullet."
In a statement released on the July 4 holiday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that "independent, third-party examiners... could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin" of the "badly damaged" bullet that fatally struck the 51-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent in the face as she covered an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on May 11.
The U.S. Security Coordinator concluded that while Israeli fire "was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh," it "found no reason to believe that this was intentional, but rather the result of tragic circumstances" that occurred during a military operation against Palestinian militants.
In response to the U.S. statement the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said, "As far as Israel is concerned, its policy regarding the killing of Palestinians has never been anything other than an organized whitewash meant to enable the continuation of the killings with impunity, and it is no different when it comes to a U.S. citizen as in the current case."
"The odds that those responsible for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh will be held to account are all but nonexistent," the group added. "Meanwhile, Israel's international impunity remains unchallenged."
\u201c\u201cU.S. officials have concluded that gunfire from Israeli positions likely killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh but that there was \u201cno reason to believe\u201d her shooting was intentional, the State Department said.\u201d\n\nWell you can\u2019t determine intent or the lack of it from a bullet.\u201d— Hamdi (@Hamdi) 1656944439
Israeli officials initially blamed Palestinian militants for killing Abu Akleh. However, separate investigations by United Nations officials, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN, Bellingcat, and B'Tselem all concluded that she was shot by an Israeli soldier.
Abu Akleh's colleague Ali Sammoudi, who was also shot during the incident but survived, told Haaretz that the U.S. statement "is yet another proof that the United States can't be trusted with anything that has to do with the Palestinians."
"I was there personally and witnessed the whole thing," he added. "There was no one there apart from the Israeli force, and they were the ones who shot at us."
\u201cDisgusting. The US has fully partnered with Israel to cover up the latter's responsibility for the willful killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, even justifying it by citing that it followed a series of "terror" attacks in Israel. https://t.co/Dh2iI6r6Ef\u201d— Maureen Murphy (@Maureen Murphy) 1656944276
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate claimed Abu Akleh was the 86th journalist to be killed while covering Israeli operations in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem since the territories were illegally occupied in 1967.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Human rights advocates on Monday derided the Biden administration's assertion that Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was "likely"--but unintentionally--killed by an Israeli soldier, with one group accusing the U.S. State Department of complicity in a "whitewash" of the reporter's death.
"You can't determine intent or the lack of it from a bullet."
In a statement released on the July 4 holiday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that "independent, third-party examiners... could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin" of the "badly damaged" bullet that fatally struck the 51-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent in the face as she covered an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on May 11.
The U.S. Security Coordinator concluded that while Israeli fire "was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh," it "found no reason to believe that this was intentional, but rather the result of tragic circumstances" that occurred during a military operation against Palestinian militants.
In response to the U.S. statement the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said, "As far as Israel is concerned, its policy regarding the killing of Palestinians has never been anything other than an organized whitewash meant to enable the continuation of the killings with impunity, and it is no different when it comes to a U.S. citizen as in the current case."
"The odds that those responsible for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh will be held to account are all but nonexistent," the group added. "Meanwhile, Israel's international impunity remains unchallenged."
\u201c\u201cU.S. officials have concluded that gunfire from Israeli positions likely killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh but that there was \u201cno reason to believe\u201d her shooting was intentional, the State Department said.\u201d\n\nWell you can\u2019t determine intent or the lack of it from a bullet.\u201d— Hamdi (@Hamdi) 1656944439
Israeli officials initially blamed Palestinian militants for killing Abu Akleh. However, separate investigations by United Nations officials, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN, Bellingcat, and B'Tselem all concluded that she was shot by an Israeli soldier.
Abu Akleh's colleague Ali Sammoudi, who was also shot during the incident but survived, told Haaretz that the U.S. statement "is yet another proof that the United States can't be trusted with anything that has to do with the Palestinians."
"I was there personally and witnessed the whole thing," he added. "There was no one there apart from the Israeli force, and they were the ones who shot at us."
\u201cDisgusting. The US has fully partnered with Israel to cover up the latter's responsibility for the willful killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, even justifying it by citing that it followed a series of "terror" attacks in Israel. https://t.co/Dh2iI6r6Ef\u201d— Maureen Murphy (@Maureen Murphy) 1656944276
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate claimed Abu Akleh was the 86th journalist to be killed while covering Israeli operations in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem since the territories were illegally occupied in 1967.
Human rights advocates on Monday derided the Biden administration's assertion that Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was "likely"--but unintentionally--killed by an Israeli soldier, with one group accusing the U.S. State Department of complicity in a "whitewash" of the reporter's death.
"You can't determine intent or the lack of it from a bullet."
In a statement released on the July 4 holiday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that "independent, third-party examiners... could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin" of the "badly damaged" bullet that fatally struck the 51-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent in the face as she covered an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on May 11.
The U.S. Security Coordinator concluded that while Israeli fire "was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh," it "found no reason to believe that this was intentional, but rather the result of tragic circumstances" that occurred during a military operation against Palestinian militants.
In response to the U.S. statement the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said, "As far as Israel is concerned, its policy regarding the killing of Palestinians has never been anything other than an organized whitewash meant to enable the continuation of the killings with impunity, and it is no different when it comes to a U.S. citizen as in the current case."
"The odds that those responsible for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh will be held to account are all but nonexistent," the group added. "Meanwhile, Israel's international impunity remains unchallenged."
\u201c\u201cU.S. officials have concluded that gunfire from Israeli positions likely killed journalist Shireen Abu Akleh but that there was \u201cno reason to believe\u201d her shooting was intentional, the State Department said.\u201d\n\nWell you can\u2019t determine intent or the lack of it from a bullet.\u201d— Hamdi (@Hamdi) 1656944439
Israeli officials initially blamed Palestinian militants for killing Abu Akleh. However, separate investigations by United Nations officials, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN, Bellingcat, and B'Tselem all concluded that she was shot by an Israeli soldier.
Abu Akleh's colleague Ali Sammoudi, who was also shot during the incident but survived, told Haaretz that the U.S. statement "is yet another proof that the United States can't be trusted with anything that has to do with the Palestinians."
"I was there personally and witnessed the whole thing," he added. "There was no one there apart from the Israeli force, and they were the ones who shot at us."
\u201cDisgusting. The US has fully partnered with Israel to cover up the latter's responsibility for the willful killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, even justifying it by citing that it followed a series of "terror" attacks in Israel. https://t.co/Dh2iI6r6Ef\u201d— Maureen Murphy (@Maureen Murphy) 1656944276
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate claimed Abu Akleh was the 86th journalist to be killed while covering Israeli operations in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem since the territories were illegally occupied in 1967.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.